Klapisch: Yanks, Mets will need to heat up to stay relevant this season

By BOB KLAPISCH

RECORD BASEBALL COLUMNIST |

The Record

The Yankees and Mets are halfway through a season which was supposed to be bursting with charisma. Remember that wish list? A smooth path to the playoffs in the Bronx, a return to quasi-respectability in Flushing, a real summer of love. But neither team has generated any buzz. Instead, they’re dragging us through the dullest baseball in years.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Masahiro Tanaka has given Yankees fans something to get excited about this summer.

That’s bad news for the folks at YES and SNY, but let’s face it, when was the last time the Yankees (or Mets) played a must-watch game? The Red Sox came and went like a whisper; the three-game series this weekend felt nothing like the good old days, and made no difference in the standings. The Mets suffered another unacceptable loss on Monday, this one to the Braves. Only a sap is holding out hope for a .500 finish.

Maybe it’s just us, but this malaise isn’t just limited to the metropolitan area. The entire industry feels out of synch, out of touch, missing the great story lines that have kept baseball so relevant for so long. It’s one thing to (reasonably) argue that football passed baseball years ago. Lately, however, it seems like even the World Cup is gaining ground.

On the day when the U.S. played to a draw with Portugal, more than 25 million Americans were watching either on TV, video stream or mobile app – the biggest draw for a soccer game in this country’s history. That’s comparable to any NFL Sunday.

Still, even if soccer wasn’t riding a monster wave, the Yankees, and to a lesser degree the Mets, would be symptomatic of what’s ailing the sport in 2014. One major league executive acknowledged, “It doesn’t help matters” when baseball’s biggest-market teams have been so invisible. Attendance has been mostly flat. “Look at New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago … it’s the same everywhere,” he said. “Everywhere I go, people are telling me they’re watching soccer or else just waiting for football.”

The Yankees’ failure has been a keen disappointment, even if the standings say they’re hardly doomed. A 4-3, 12-inning loss to the Rays on Monday dropped them to only a game over .500, and Joe Girardi says the Bombers are “fortunate” to be only 2½ games out of first place. They have a minus-33 run differential, which is a more accurate barometer than the standings of who and what the Bombers are.

The Yankees win most of the games started by Masahiro Tanaka, but otherwise can’t get through the sixth inning without dipping into the bullpen. Talent evaluators are cautioning against Girardi’s potential overuse of his relievers, especially Dellin Betances, but the manager has almost no other choices: Betances and Tanaka are the only lines of defense against the Bombers’ plunge into full-blown mediocrity.

Not even Derek Jeter’s farewell tour satisfies the soul the way Mariano Rivera’s did. The most obvious reason, of course, is that Rivera had the time to say goodbye, city by city, fan by fan. The shortstop has a more restrictive pregame schedule and, let’s face it, isn’t emotionally equipped for that many bro-hugs.

Jeter is also decelerating and is hardly the player he was even two years ago.

Getting old is nothing to be ashamed of, but more often than not, the captain looks every single minute of his 40 years.

More and more, it looks like the Yankees are gambling on long shots to win even 87 games. They’ll need CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda to make an impact when they come off the disabled list later this month. We’ll see — both have been non-factors. The real pressure is on Brian Cashman to make a deal before the 31st. Again: we’ll see.

The Mets, however, are nowhere close to fulfilling their promise of a rebirth. They fell apart in the eighth inning in Atlanta, not only allowing four runs, but committing three errors, as well. The Mets aren’t just lacking in talent, they play with the expectation of failure, which is an indictment of Terry Collins, and GM Sandy Alderson, who has swung and missed for the fourth year in a row. His team is unwatchable.

Whether you saw this coming, or whether any or all of it has come as a surprise, the net effect is still the same. The Yankees and Mets are on a sprint to nowhere. More and more, it feels like spring training can’t get here fast enough.

NEWS ITEM: Former Mets GM Frank Cashen dies at 88.
The architect of the ’80s-era team leaves behind a powerful legacy, assembling the best roster in franchise history the old-fashioned way – via trades. Cashen masterfully acquired Keith Hernandez from the Cardinals in 1983 and Gary Carter from the Expos in 1984, paving the way for a golden era the likes of which the Mets have never again experienced.

Cashen was also responsible for promoting a young, inexperienced manager named Davey Johnson from the minors in 1984, bringing him along with future stars such as Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden and Ron Darling. The mix of veterans and neophytes made for historic times in Flushing, even if Cashen eventually tired of the Mets’ renegade reputation. He forgot what made the Mets so tough, disbanding the core by the late ’80s, ultimately leading to the crash in the early ’90s.

Still, no one will ever forget how smart and prescient Cashen was when the Mets needed him most. He was a giant.

Klapisch: Yanks, Mets will need to heat up to stay relevant this season

Masahiro Tanaka has given Yankees fans something to get excited about this summer.

By BOB KLAPISCH

RECORD BASEBALL COLUMNIST |

The Record

The Yankees and Mets are halfway through a season which was supposed to be bursting with charisma. Remember that wish list? A smooth path to the playoffs in the Bronx, a return to quasi-respectability in Flushing, a real summer of love. But neither team has generated any buzz. Instead, they’re dragging us through the dullest baseball in years.

That’s bad news for the folks at YES and SNY, but let’s face it, when was the last time the Yankees (or Mets) played a must-watch game? The Red Sox came and went like a whisper; the three-game series this weekend felt nothing like the good old days, and made no difference in the standings. The Mets suffered another unacceptable loss on Monday, this one to the Braves. Only a sap is holding out hope for a .500 finish.

Maybe it’s just us, but this malaise isn’t just limited to the metropolitan area. The entire industry feels out of synch, out of touch, missing the great story lines that have kept baseball so relevant for so long. It’s one thing to (reasonably) argue that football passed baseball years ago. Lately, however, it seems like even the World Cup is gaining ground.

On the day when the U.S. played to a draw with Portugal, more than 25 million Americans were watching either on TV, video stream or mobile app – the biggest draw for a soccer game in this country’s history. That’s comparable to any NFL Sunday.

Still, even if soccer wasn’t riding a monster wave, the Yankees, and to a lesser degree the Mets, would be symptomatic of what’s ailing the sport in 2014. One major league executive acknowledged, “It doesn’t help matters” when baseball’s biggest-market teams have been so invisible. Attendance has been mostly flat. “Look at New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago … it’s the same everywhere,” he said. “Everywhere I go, people are telling me they’re watching soccer or else just waiting for football.”

The Yankees’ failure has been a keen disappointment, even if the standings say they’re hardly doomed. A 4-3, 12-inning loss to the Rays on Monday dropped them to only a game over .500, and Joe Girardi says the Bombers are “fortunate” to be only 2½ games out of first place. They have a minus-33 run differential, which is a more accurate barometer than the standings of who and what the Bombers are.

The Yankees win most of the games started by Masahiro Tanaka, but otherwise can’t get through the sixth inning without dipping into the bullpen. Talent evaluators are cautioning against Girardi’s potential overuse of his relievers, especially Dellin Betances, but the manager has almost no other choices: Betances and Tanaka are the only lines of defense against the Bombers’ plunge into full-blown mediocrity.

Not even Derek Jeter’s farewell tour satisfies the soul the way Mariano Rivera’s did. The most obvious reason, of course, is that Rivera had the time to say goodbye, city by city, fan by fan. The shortstop has a more restrictive pregame schedule and, let’s face it, isn’t emotionally equipped for that many bro-hugs.

Jeter is also decelerating and is hardly the player he was even two years ago.

Getting old is nothing to be ashamed of, but more often than not, the captain looks every single minute of his 40 years.

More and more, it looks like the Yankees are gambling on long shots to win even 87 games. They’ll need CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda to make an impact when they come off the disabled list later this month. We’ll see — both have been non-factors. The real pressure is on Brian Cashman to make a deal before the 31st. Again: we’ll see.

The Mets, however, are nowhere close to fulfilling their promise of a rebirth. They fell apart in the eighth inning in Atlanta, not only allowing four runs, but committing three errors, as well. The Mets aren’t just lacking in talent, they play with the expectation of failure, which is an indictment of Terry Collins, and GM Sandy Alderson, who has swung and missed for the fourth year in a row. His team is unwatchable.

Whether you saw this coming, or whether any or all of it has come as a surprise, the net effect is still the same. The Yankees and Mets are on a sprint to nowhere. More and more, it feels like spring training can’t get here fast enough.

NEWS ITEM: Former Mets GM Frank Cashen dies at 88.
The architect of the ’80s-era team leaves behind a powerful legacy, assembling the best roster in franchise history the old-fashioned way – via trades. Cashen masterfully acquired Keith Hernandez from the Cardinals in 1983 and Gary Carter from the Expos in 1984, paving the way for a golden era the likes of which the Mets have never again experienced.

Cashen was also responsible for promoting a young, inexperienced manager named Davey Johnson from the minors in 1984, bringing him along with future stars such as Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden and Ron Darling. The mix of veterans and neophytes made for historic times in Flushing, even if Cashen eventually tired of the Mets’ renegade reputation. He forgot what made the Mets so tough, disbanding the core by the late ’80s, ultimately leading to the crash in the early ’90s.

Still, no one will ever forget how smart and prescient Cashen was when the Mets needed him most. He was a giant.